I'm So Happy to Have these Kids

It's been some time since my last entry. Between my lack of time and my anal-ness about the format of the last one, I've hesitated to write in here. I couldn't possibly publish my last post until I had it formatted so it' wasn't such an eyesore. Then I realized that nobody reads this anyway except for Lacy, my inspiration to blog, and she may actually be able to help w/the problem.

Besides, the kids are too adorable to stall any longer. J & M are so cute together. They have somewhat of a love/hate relationship. Each morning he gets up and asks me, "Can we go see what the Beauty Queen is up to?" once we do, he asks, "Can we chill with M on the bed for a little while?" We usually just all sit on the bed for a couple of minutes and they roll around, scream, tackle, and laugh. She loves it -- for a while -- then she turns her back and crawls over to me. That's pretty much the template for their relationship.

He loves to hang out with her, but then he's yelling in her face and scaring her a moment later. She sees him and smiles, yells, crawls over to him, climbs on him, and then she's done. She's recently started to kiss him over and over, though she does it to D and me as well.

Yesterday morning she got hold of a little i-Pod he got in a Happy Meal, she found the button and when the music came on, she started doing what she does best: dancing...she kept pushing the button and dancing some more. I joined in and the next thing we knew the three of us were dancing and laughing in his room. Priceless good times.

About a month ago, he was jumping around and talking to himself under his breath and I caught the phrase, "I'm so happy I have a sister." I asked him about it and he 'fessed up to saying it. That's so cute! Today, he's said, "I love you" a couple of times. This time when I inquired, he said he was talking to M.

After four years of being an only child, he has really adjusted well to sharing his parents, his space, and his life with another little person. I'm so proud of him. I really believe that he's happy to have a sister; and though she may not know it yet, one day she'll be very happy to have such a wonderful brother.

And me, I'm so happy to have these kids!

The Bus is Coming, The Bus is Coming !! (We Hope)

11:29....only 36 more minutes until the school bus arrives to pick up J for his first day of Kindergarten. At least that's what I'm hoping. Yesterday, he was going to drive by for a test run and he never showed. We waited outside from 12:05 until about 12:35 when all the kids should have been in school and decided he wasn't coming. Poor J. Each time he heard the rumblings of a big vehicle driving on the street he'd say, "Oh, the bus is coming," only to look and have it be one of the big construction trucks that so often drive in our neighborhood.

Once the waiting was over, we packed in the car and headed for a rare visit to the hands on Children's Museum and met up with friends there. It was a nice end to what seemed like a short but great summer.

Dinner last night, at J's request, was Taco Bell. Although it was bath time after that, we decided that a morning shower would be a better option for his big day. He played on the computer for a bit, we read a book -- The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing -- and off to bed he went. But then he was up again, crying because I didn't check on him fast enough.

"T'was the night before Kindergarten

and as they prepared,

kids were excited

and a little bit

scared."

We hurried on up and attempt it again with the promise that I'd be back in five minutes. I was there promptly and he was happy. For a second or two. Then I hear the words, "Something woke me up!"

"They tossed and they turned

about in their beds

as visions of school supplies

danced in their heads."

We go upstairs once again and I was able to get out of him that he was a little nervous about school. I reassured him that it would be great, tucked him in bed once again, and told him I'd be back in six...when I returned he was sound asleep.

"Erasers and crayons and pencils galore

were stuffed in their backpacks and set by the door."

And then I cried. I hugged my baby and cried. I don't know why this is such a big ordeal to me. I used to think people like me were geeks. But because I can't beat them, I have to join them.

"In the morning it came --

school starts today!

Would the teacher be nice?

Would they still get to play?"

This morning we went to breakfast at I-HOP, came home for the aforementioned morning shower, got him dressed, and now we wait....11:42.....23 minutes until the bus comes.

"Faces were washed

and teeth were brushed white;

kids posed for pictures

with eyes sparkling bright."

And come it did....eight minutes early! We were just about to put his shoes on when up rolls Dale. With the camera in one hand and his backpack in the other I attempted to run outside to tell him we'd be right there, but as soon as I opened the front door, off he goes. In the meantime, J is outside with one shoe on yelling at him to stop to no avail. M is inside crying her lungs out because we have scared her silly with all the commotion.

So now I'm thinking that he'll be back at the time he initially told me he'd be here, so we sat outside and waited some more with every couple of minutes J chiming in, "I want the bus to come back." However, we were unaware that when Dale turned that corner, he was not to be seen on our street that day again.

"Parents packed snacks

and kids packed in cars

as if they were boarding

a spaceship to Mars."

With his snacks all packed in his backpack, we boarded our spaceship to the school and got there with five minutes to spare.

"The room was all filled with toys,

books, and maps. But where were the beds

for mid-morning naps?"

Dale and his posse followed suit a few minutes later and when I inquired about the 12:05 pickup, he told me that he's long gone by then. Duh. At the mention of yesterday's no-show, he said he did come by our house. I think Dale is missing a few screws, but I guess you have to be to want to transport a bunch of Kindergartners to and from school, right? He's now changed the time to noon.

With all the action this morning, I didn't even cry. He looked perfectly content when we left. And I was perfectly content --more like relieved -- that I got him to school on time and without much to do about why he didn't take the bus. Maybe the crying I did last night was all I needed to satisfy the sentimental side of sending your kid off to school for the first time.

But the stillness of the neighborhood was very evident when we pulled in. It was peaceful and quiet. A little depressing even. It was probably just the contrast to the days of summer when bikes and scooters were among us and the laughter and yelling of children filled the air. Maybe. 1:41...One hour and 38 minutes until we pick him up.

4:04...and we're home. The first day of school is behind us. M and I went to the campus to put him on the bus and race home behind it. I was early and got a great spot, except then I remembered that it gets really busy there and I may be trapped in an abyss of cars only to watch the school bus carrying my kid drive off and no one to pick him up when he got to the stop at home. I pulled out and found what I thought was a better spot. We got out and walked to the classroom right as they were waling out. He had his big-kid buddies with him -- a few kids assigned the task of escorting the little ones to the bus. I left him there and walked to the car and found a bunch of cars behind me. I was trapped....I was almost in tears.

I debated running to the bus stop and yanking him out of the bus, strapping him in my car, and driving home, but he looked so happy to be riding the bus, and after the morning's fiasco, how could I do that to him? Back and forth I went until I said, "Screw it, he's coming with me!" Luckily when I stepped in to grab M, the cars started to move.

I then pulled out of the parking lot and found another place to park, illegally I might add. But I didn't care. I had no idea where the bus would pull out from or which way it would turn once it did and this was the perfect place to stake out the situation. I was right where I needed to be.

Once it pulled out, I was in hot pursuit. We got to the stop right as some kids were getting off. but not J. Panic set in for a moment until I went inside and there he was in the front row....Cheesing.

It was a National Lampoon's First Day of School kind of day, right out of the Griswold's family album, but what a great day it was. I didn't realize how stressed I felt until now that it's all done. I need a Margarita.

"The children all waved

from the door of the school.

Don't cry Mom and Dad,

Kindergarten is cool."

(I appologize for the eyesore this is. I've tried and tried to format it and space it appropriately but it's not working....urr..).

These Boots Really Were Made for Walking

Uh, about that marathon I was attempting to run a few posts AND months ago...not gonna happen. I started out strong, inspired, ready to take on the blogging world and then just like that, I pooped out.

At last reading, the footwear was all laced up and ready to go, what I didn't realize then was that said footwear was completely inappropriate for the task at hand. Instead of the running shoes needed for that marathon, I laced up what seems to be a fabulous pair of boots made for the sole purpose of looking good -- oh, and walking. Not being one to give up style for comfort, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

M's blog, The Booty Queen Chronicles, is at a publishing halt until God knows when. J's blog never even got started. There is way too much ground to cover on a daily basis and to think that I'm going to do it in three different places, well, that's just way out of my league.

Better to walk and look good doing it than to run, run, run and fall flat on my butt.

Oly Cow !!

Yesterday marked our two-year anniversary in Olympia. I can't believe it. I can still remember the anticipation we had as we ended our cross-country trip from Maryland and arrived at the yucky Extended Stay America!

Lots has happened since, we've even had another baby, yet time is flying. If we follow our usual path, it will only be another year before D gets the call that it's time to pack up and leave to another office. I'm not ready for that yet. I love it here. There isn't a good mall or great restaurants, but it's a small price to pay for what there is: nice people, nice views, nice friends and that oh-so-nice Seattle-cost-of-living adjustment that we get even though we have the good fortune of being about 50 miles away from King County.

The fact that I haven't been able to work here has been a constant source of frustration; among other things. However, if I'm going to be a stay-at-home Mom, Oly is the place to be. They say there's a proverbial lesson to be learned by everything we're faced with...I hope to learn that lesson, whatever it may be, and be ready to move on when the time comes.

Until then, what do you say we just enjoy Olympia !

Look at Him Go

Last Thursday, the whole family went out to J's future elementary school to watch him ride his bike. WOW !! Just a few months ago, the training wheels were still tightly secured to the John Deere. When Daddy decided to take them off shorty after that, he was still hanging onto the back while J rode. On this day, he did it all by himself just like a big boy.

And I watched...helmet on, back to me, little legs spinning and spinning as he moved further and further away.

I was filled with pride as I saw him go. The very next second when I felt the tug in my heart, I realized that it was like some crazy metaphor of things to come: Slowly but surely my little boy is growing up. And on the very playground where in a couple of weeks I will drop him off on his first day of Kindergarten, I got my first taste of what letting go feels like. Today it was simply letting go of the back of the bike -- and it wasn't even me who did it, but he was off. Tomorrow he'll be waving to me from the window of the school bus; another day it'll be another milestone and another tug to my heart; we'll continue that way with pride and admiration until we reach that not-so-far-off day when we can no longer hang on and he rides into the sunset of adulthood.

There was no visible sunset that day. All day long it had been overcast and looking like it would rain. Right as we were getting ready to leave the playground, there was a torrential downpour. Just another metaphor for the way I felt.