Closing a Chapter

 

What started 8 years ago just ended today. I picked Peanut up from Piedmont Progressive Preschool for the last time. Not only was it his last day of preschool, but after attending off and on since we moved to Charlotte, it was my last day of going to preschool.

We found PPP, and fell in love with it, our first summer here and it was one of the first places that I made friends. In fact, the very first person I met in Charlotte, S, told me about the school and then, when we ended up buying a house and I began to hunt for a close preschool, I found it again and was so excited to see S again at the preschool open house. Our families quickly became friends and have had so much fun watching our children grow up together.

That first year, while Bean was playing at school, Bug and I joined a playgroup of younger siblings and moms, where we both found more friends who he would later go to preschool with, and even on to Corvian with some of them. We've stayed in touch with so many of our preschool friends over the years, with park meetups, 4-H, running races together, Rita's gatherings, and PPP fundraisers.

With each child there, we expanded our circle, but it has always been a special community for me. It's where I found my crunchy friends--where my cloth diapering, extended breast feeding, weird eating habits, and alternative ideas about education were all completely normal. People have been bringing quinoa cookies and honey-sweetened desserts to PPP potlucks long before grain-free was common. PPP is where we learned about zero-waste lunches and how powerful play is. It's where I started reading Alphie Kohn and gained the confidence to homeschool that first year, and eventually to do all that I had to to get my kids into a charter school that fit.

PPP has shaped me as much as it shaped my kids, which is why I was in tears as I had to say goodbye to these two women who have been there for all 3 of my kids. My babies are growing up, and while we will come back to visit, it feels strange to think that we are done with preschool.

Preschool Parties

December was a busy month for this guy!

They had pajama day the first week of December.

Peanut was pretty excited to wear his pj's to school. Bug was pretty excited that they still do it since he was the one who started it when Bean was in elementary school and got to have pajama day and he REALLY wanted to do it, too, so he begged his teachers until they picked a day and declared it pajama day.

 

Then, they had Stone Soup day just before break.

I went in early so I could get some pictures of the kids playing before the feast.

I think the kids all enjoyed sharing a meal, even if a lot of them weren't all that excited about the soup, haha.

Such a great little preschool.

The Long-Awaited Day

Peanut had to wait for 3 weeks after the kids started school before his first day of preschool. And I can tell you, it was a long three weeks. After getting over the initial shock that the kids had to go to school every day, not only once, he quickly realized that I was the only person available to play, and begged me to "Play with me, Mama!" about 75 times a day.

And I will say that the first week of school went better than I hoped. Knock on wood, but we've had very few separation tears. The first two days, he was totally fine when I dropped him off in class. He really took to the play kitchen area when we dropped in for the Meet the Teachers day, and has spent a lot of time playing there this week.

Thursday, the started outside on the playground and he wasn't too happy with that change, but in the end, he let me retreat to the parents' room for their last few minutes of outside time and then was fine for the next hour, so I'm still feeling hopeful. I don't know how any kid could not like this school. They've got a little bit of everything and the 4's/5's teachers are amazing.

Peanut's wait may be over, but because the school does a pretty long ease-in process, it will be a week from Monday before he goes for the full 4 hours, so I'm still not getting anything done (other than meeting the other parents as we hang out at the school). And there is a tiny part of me that is sad that he'll be away from me so much, but the rest of me is grateful that I'll have 16 hours a week that I don't have to talk with anyone if I don't want to, or more specifically, listen to anyone (because Peanut is carrying on the tradition of our kids which is that silence is evil and every thought they have is fair game to be shared). That means 16 hours a week that I'll be able to think straight. I'm kind of looking forward to all the things I'll be able to get done.

Somebody is 5!

It's hard to believe our little Bug is 5.  That sounds so grown up--when they are still 4, they still sound like little kids, just barely past toddlerhood, but once they hit 5, that's school age!  He's come a long way from here.

Funny things about Bug today:

This morning, he prayed :

"Thank you for my birthday.  Thank you for this day.  Please bless this food {donuts} to be healthy.  Please bless me to like my presents."  He has been REALLY worried that we're going to give him stuff he doesn't like.

I went to have lunch with him at preschool and he moved my seat so I was in the corner because "Now you are only sitting next to me!"  I think maybe he didn't like how the other kids would dominate the conversation last year when I had lunch with him.

After school, he wanted to do my hair.  "Mommy, you know I'm not a professional, right?"  That one wouldn't be too hard to figure out.

My favorite thing to see today--how excited Bean was to give him the gift she'd made, and how excited he was when he opened it.

She made him a Christmas activity book--full of pages to color, things to draw, mazes, which-of-these-things-is-different type activities.  She spent quite awhile making all the pages and he was so excited when he saw it. 

Only gift that topped it judging by the size of his smile was the pillow pet from Rara--a moose, which he quickly names Chocolate.  Chocolate the Moose--only the pun was totally lost on him.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!  We love having you in the family and are excited to see what the next 5 years bring!

Fall is Flying By

 I can't believe how fast this month is going.  I love fall--love the weather, love the activities, but I'm not loving how busy its been.  I want more time to really enjoy it.  But better too busy than bored, right?

So here's a peak at some of what we've been doing the last week or so:

 Bug had Founder's Day at the preschool last week.  I missed it last year (we'd just started at school the week before so I hadn't heard about it and that morning, I think I was still in my pj's when I dropped him off and was in a hurry to go back home so I could throw up again.), so he's been reminding me of it for a month.  And he still panicked that morning when he thought I'd gone home and wasn't going to make it back in time.

 The kids made hats the day before, and then do a little parade out to the tree they planted in honor of the two women who started the preschool 10 years ago.  It's very lowkey and fun--just right for this age.

 At home, we've been working on Halloween decorations.  Thanks to pinterest (my new-found obsession), I found a couple fun decorating ideas I wanted to try.  The kids were skeptical of the jack-o-lantern in the window ("Why aren't you cutting out a round pumpkin?  They're always round!"), but once they saw it up, they were really excited.  (Except then the bulb burned out in that room, and I only think of it at night when its too dark to change the bulb, so we haven't had it on for the last couple nights).

 This wreath was more of a solo project, although Bug did help out for about 5 minutes before declaring it was too hard.  Also found on pinterest.  It is the product of a two naptimes and two romance novels that have somehow found their way into my house that I had no intention of ever reading, a little ribbon and a piece of black paper. Oh, and a half price straw wreath.  Pretty simple

 A little tee ball action.  Bug is not the most teachable ("I don't need to take lessons, I already know how to ______" Fill in that blank with anything that he's even been introduced to.), so we've struggled with learning how a tee is supposed to work, but he's getting the idea slowly.  He's actually doing okay hitting balls pitched to him, too.  His stance is pretty funny, but its cute and maybe someday he'll be willing to listen to us, or even look at us as we try to demonstrate.

 We've also been doing a lot of baking.  Fall is always baking time in my mind.  Only problem is that this year, I can't eat any of it.  But that hasn't stopped me from making homemade everything, including these pumpkin shaped "Ritz" crackers.  It's hard when I start researching all this food stuff, and completely overhauling my diet for one kid, to then keep feeding the other two a bunch of processed junk.  So we haven't been.  But they also don't want to just eat meat and veggies, which leaves me baking and cooking way more than normal, trying to keep the houes stocked with snacks and things that I feel good about giving them.  We've made granola bars, lots of muffins, an oatmeal bar (that's really a less-sweet cookie, but I pretend that its healthy), crackers, and lots of breads.  I haven't been able to taste any of it, but I hear most of the things have been pretty good.  And these crackers, while not exactly a Ritz, have been enjoyed.  Especially the ones I used to serve up some monster faces (I'm telling you, I should have named this post Pinterest Obsession).

 We've also been doing a lot of reading.  Magic Treehouse is the series of choice these days.  I love it that Bean can read to the boys (and love that Henry is fascinated enough with the kids, no matter what they are doing, that I can plop him down for a few minutes.)

Finally, you know how people always say that someday you'll miss the finger prints on the windows and the toys strewn around the house?  Well, I don't know if I'll really miss that stuff, but as I was cleaning the other morning, I did realize that I'll miss coming across notes like this that turn up  randomly all the time because my little boy loves me :)  Maybe Daddy-o will have to leave me love notes around the house at that point.  He's really going to miss these kids, too!

Another First Day

 (I asked him to hold up "4" for his age, but of course one hand wasn't enough.  Gotta go big.)

We've had a couple conversations in the last week reminiscent of last year where Bug tried to tell me he didn't want to go to preschool, but luckily, once he started, he's decided its really fun and has been having a blast with his friends.

 The mulch pile at the beginning of the year is always a big hit.  The kids are a little sad once it finally gets spread around the playground.

 And of course, its just too fun to try out all the daredevil stunts that make me so nervous to watch.  But he knows what he can do and is pretty careful.

 And of course its been fun to see all his friends from last year.  There are 16 kids in the 4's/5's class and 10 are from last years class, so it has been a fun reunion.

Hard to believe next year he'll be in Kindergarten!

Last Week of Preschool

It's hard to believe that the year is over!  T and R have been great teachers--and once Bug got over the idea that he didn't want to go to school, he's had a lot of fun with them.  This week has been especially fun.

 Monday, they had water day.  Always a big hit, especially when the temps are getting in the 90's.

 We didn't get there in time to catch most of the action, but it sounds like they had fun with a couple pools, sprinklers, and buckets of water.

 A little art time in the 4's classs, where all these guys will be moving to next year.

 Playing in the kitchen . . .

 Tuesday, Daddy-o did woodworking with the class and then we had the family picnic.  I've told Daddy-o that he really needed to experience the noise that comes with woodworking at the preschool, and field trips with the elementary school.  He ended up lucking out with Bean's class because he never did a FT with her old school, and just got the fun of going with her new one to the retirement home where they sing songs and do art projects each month, which sounded a lot nicer than the library trips I did with her old school.  But he did get the full preschool experience--the kids have fun.

I'm so glad they moved the picnic from the playground to the shady side yard.  It is summer here, for sure!

And we presented a little thank you to each of the teachers and the director for everything they've done this year.  I was the class parent rep, which meant Daddy-o got to collect all the money and get the cards signed and buy the gifts cards and plants for the teachers.  He's really been able to do a lot with the kids and their schools the last couple weeks, which has been fun for them, and hopefully for him, too :)

And now Bug is ready for summer vacation!

Preschool Carnival

 To celebrate the school's 10th anniversary, they put on a carnival.  It happened to be the Saturday right after we got back from California. Actually, that was part of the reason we flew in Friday night instead of Saturday.  Bugaboo was devastated when he found out we might not be around for the carnival, so we planned around it, and managed to get going just early enough to make it for the alumni and current student photo.

 Then, it was off for some carnival games.  Who can pass up a chance to pick the giant nose?  The kids had a great time, ran into several old friends, and we managed to pick up a couple good deals in the silent auction (although no art this year.)

The kids got their faces painted at the end.  The lady who was doing it was amazing.

 And we learned of  Bugaboo's goth tendencies.

Actually, now that I know all the tears and drama that come with the fact that face painting doesn't last forever, I won't be encouraging this again.  It did give us some leverage to get the kids to stop crying, though, since they could see the tears washing off the paint.

And the next morning, we were still left with a trace--doesn't he look like he's ready to join Green Day?  By the time we went to church, the eyeliner was pretty faint and we didn't get any strange comments.

No Blogging Mojo

I don't know why I can't get back into this habit, but the blogging, obviously, just hasn't been happening lately.  It's not even that I don't have time to get on the computer, but I just have no motivation anymore.  And what little energy I can muster to do things ends up getting spent on folding laundry and sorting and organizing.  And occasionally cooking for my family.  That mojo hasn't totally come back either.

But here's a summary of what we've been up to lately:

--Trying to kick yet another virus of some sort that has made its way through everyone but Daddy-o.  Luckily, the fever and aches part of it only lasted about 36 hours for each of us, but now the kids and I are going through Kleenex boxes like crazy (Buggy used an entire box yesterday, but that is due somewhat to his manner of using tissues, and me not having the energy to stop him.)

--Dealing with more school woes, but I think we've made a decision and will be moving Bean, hopefully next week, to a very small school we found that is modeled after our dream charter school that we will probably never get into.  The biggest pluses--very small class size (11 kids in the first grade), only 5 minutes from our house, good teacher/parent communication, thematic studies, and no TV in the class, so there will be no more reports of which Disney movie they got to watch in class this week (because I don't care if Lion King is set in Africa, that movie does not teach them about Africa!  And Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn't teach weather, and I have no idea what Up was supposed to be teaching, but I know we'd decided to wait a couple more years before showing that movie to our very sensitive, emotional child.)  I hope this school works out for all of us--Bean was pretty excited after visiting today, and I was impressed and hopeful, but mildly wary after how our last experience has turned out.

--I'm 25.5 weeks along in growing this new little boy, and feeling every second of it.  I have never loved being pregnant, but I'm so done this time.  I'm not nauseous anymore, thank goodness, but I still feel a little bleh after pretty much every meal, and the heartburn has kicked in full force.  I just don't feel good, and I'm kind of tired of whining about it, so I just hope the last 3 months go quickly so I can stop.

--We've started some minor baby preparations.  Got the kids new dressers so theirs could be moved to the baby's room (and I immediately filled it with all the newborn stuff we have), and finally got the crib out of their room (Bug hasn't been sleeping in it for months), and I'm working on figuring out colors for the room so I can paint and get it all set up.  And I visited the birth center I want to use and have set up to switch from my doctor to the midwife group there.  Now I just have to start my Hypnobabies again--I'm guessing it will come back to me quickly, so I don't want to start too early and get burnt out on the daily practicing.

--Daddy-o has been working too many hours again.  Poor guy had to work through most of his birthday last Saturday, taking care of a little emergency.  Things have slowed down a little now, but we won't know for a couple more weeks what the long term story on this project is going to be.  He's already counting down to paternity leave.

--Bugaboo has been mostly loving preschool again.  It's a relief to drop him off without the tears and yelling about how much he hates school--we've only had one of those days in the last 3 weeks.  And school has been fun.  They've been painting with feathers, sponges, stamps, and different textured rollers, hammering into playdough, playing in their newly set up grocery store, and running up and down the new pile of mulch that was delivered this week.  He's come home really dirty and grinning from ear to ear, so I have a hard time believing him when he tells me he hates it all.

--Bean celebrated the 100th day of school (which funny enough, she'll get to do over again at the new school this next week).  She made a picture using 100 beans and pasta peices, and then got draw a picture of what she'll look like at 100, make a necklace with 100 fruit loops, build with 100 legos, and eat cake--no idea what that had to do with 100, but it seemed to be her favorite part of the celebration.

We are all surviving, hoping for the early spring the Groundhog has predicted, and counting down until Mama gets her motivation back.

Pajama Day at the Preschool

When this little bug heard about Pajama Day during Bean's school's Spirit Week in September, he was more than interested.  He loves his pj's and would be happy to stay in them all day, every day (and who can blame him?  They are comfy!)  So he started asking me when his pajama day was.  I told him I didn't know if the preschool did one, but he could ask his teachers.  And he did.  And he kept asking about it until they talked to the class and finally decided on a day to have a class pajama day.  When I read the email to him, "Some of the students have expressed interest in having a pajama day," he got pretty excited--"That's me!  I'm the student!"

Bugaboo's tagline should be, "He gets it done!"  He's always been pretty persistant, independant, and often creative when he decides he wants something.  He doesn't let it go, and doesn't stop until he's figured it out.  Qualities that can be challenging in a toddler and preschooler, but I'm pretty excited about the type of adult he's going to grow into.

First Day of Preschool

A little later than everyone else started, but he jumped right in and his teachers said it was like he'd been in the class the whole time.

Goofy as always.

Summer Camp

Bean got to go to a pioneer camp this week at her old preschool (they run a few camp weeks through the summer for 3-6/7 year olds). She made a candle, wood bead necklaces, crushed ice with a hand churn, played with old fashioned wood toys and musical instruments, and learned a few new games. And built forts and swimming pools in the sand box--pretty typical messy, fun school stuff.

Bugaboo, however, was stuck with me for the week. We'd decided that they could really use a little break from each other, and we weren't too excited about paying for two kids, so we told him the family rule is that you get to go to camp when your 4, and instead, he got to go to Mama Camp this week. We played games, went to the dollar movie and Chuck E Cheese, played with clay, went out to lunch, hit up the kid's club party at the mall, met up with friends at the spray ground, and go ice cream from McDonald's as our final activity this week. And other than the fact that I haven't taken any pictures of the "camp" activities, I think we've had a good Mama Camp week. It was enough to make Bean a little jealous and have her asking when her turn for Mama Camp is. Maybe next summer we'll swap who goes to camp. Or maybe I'll find something for each of them the same week and I'll have 5 mornings of peace. . . I can only imagine what that feels like!

So Much To Do

That pretty much sums up our week :) With the end of preschool, late night NBA finals, and some things around the house that needed to be taken care of, we've been pretty busy and are all just tired. The kids both crashed on the way home after a morning of errands and lunch and playing at a friend's house today.

Bean finished preschool yesterday. I think I was more sad than she was, although she didn't want to say goodbye to her teachers, so I'm guessing she was feeling a little more overwhelmed by it all than she was willing to let on. I told Daddy-o that I'm not sure if I'm sad because my baby girl is growing up, or because I now have her home with me every day for the next 15 months.

They had a picnic at the school for all of us yesterday and presented us with the books of our kids artwork and pictures from this last year. And then we gave the teachers and director their gifts, which I was in charge of for our class (which is a big part of what has made this week so crazy). We gave the director a print of the class painting since she was the parent that we'd been in the bidding war with at the auction. Only her version, while only a copy, was framed much nicer. Daddy-o wanted to trade and give her the original, but I think that we'll just be reframing ours here soon.

I got a chance to do a little crafting and made these cards for the teachers--always nice when I can sneak in a little hobby time which has been pretty lacking lately.

Daddy-o's Lakers will just not lose. Good for them, but makes for a lot of really late nights when some of the games don't even start until 10:30 p.m. This east coast time zone is really not good for his health. Work hasn't been so kind lately. And in his spare time he's been installing our new microwave--it's going about as smoothly as it looks :) Too bad things like that aren't completely standardized, but thank goodness for the internet where people can tell you that there are actually hidden bolts on some of the older models that need to be removed before you'll be able to lift it off the wall bracket, before you just tear out the entire wall.

Bugaboo had an entire week without any potty accidents, so I declared him officially potty-trained. And then we've had a bit of a fallback these last few days. But I guess that happens. Bean would point out that I occasionally still have accidents, but mine are all due to that lovely birthing stress.

Now we're off for a couple days of relaxing at the beach. We're going to Wilmington, NC (of Dawson's Creek fame :) ), for the weekend, assuming that we can get a room on such short notice. Not that I care so much about seeing where DC was filmed, but I did watch it and it always looked so beautiful, so I'm excited about seeing that area, and a real historic southern plantation, since the last one wasn't quite what I'm looking for.

Water Day

Fun times for all at the preschool today.