Rockstar Kids

OK, let me be honest here. This is really a "back to school" post, but it's mid-October, and that would just be embarrassing at this point.

So, let me tell you about the kids' annual doctor visit yesterday instead. The doctor pointed out to me that we hadn't been in the clinic since our last checkup in September of 2015. Y'all. That's a whole year without seeing the doctor. I'm shocked and amazed. Then he proceeded to tell me that people with more kids are usually just too busy and tend to let the kids ride out their sickness. I'm sure I'm more guilty of that than them being well for a year. Ain't nobody got time to run to the doctor for every sore throat. 

They all checked out just fine, all in good health and growing like weeds. Then, this happened.

Before the appointment, I talked to them about the flu shot. In the past, they've always gotten the flu mist, but I knew that our clinic was no longer going to offer that option. Only the needle. So, I explained the vaccine--I gave them the pros and cons. I didn't take a position and let them make their own choice. By the time we got there, Big Sis and Boy Twin were on board with the shot. Surprisingly, Girl Twin conceded by the end of the appointment. They all chose to get the shot--without my encouragement---on their own. The doctor, nurses and I were all shocked. They took the shots like champs and never even flinched.

Now, if it will just do its job we'll all be happy. 

And here are those first day of school pictures that I promised, from August. :)

School Is Cool

This week marks the 4th week of school for my kids, so I thought it would be a good time for a quick update on how it's been going.

 

For me: It's going surprisingly well. This mama shed no tears at all when the littlest ones went off for their first day in the big, scary school. This was a relief, after spending all summer in a tizzy about the "to separate, or not to separate" internal tug-of-war concerning the twins. I discussed it so much with them, that when drop off day finally came, I hardly even  got a wave from either of them. I comforted myself knowing that they could play together at recess every day to soothe their lonely, broken, separated hearts. HA! That lasted all of ONE DAY. For real, I've asked them every single day if they play together at recess--and every single day the answer is "No." So, what shall I worry about now?

 

For Boy Twin: After the 3rd day of school, he retreated to the couch to cry every morning because he didn't want to go to school. His complaint: "School is too long. Why do we have to go EVERY day?" That pity party didn't last long when I told him that's the rules and I don't make the rules. Why else would I go to work every day? For fun?  By the 3rd week of school he was excited to tell us about all the new words that he'd learned to spell in kindergarten; words like "P.E." and "D.J." (his new friend in class). 'Atta boy!  Also, not to brag or anything, but he's been blowing me kisses every morning as he walks up the sidewalk to school. I'm sure the other moms understand and are not mad at all that we hold up the drop off line every day.

 

For Girl Twin: This girl is like a steel vault; she won't give us any information about what she's doing or learning in class. Either she's really bored, or she is running the show and doesn't want us to know it. (I think I know which.)  Either way, we are thrilled that she has the same teacher that Big Sis had in Kindergarten! It's a little different, though, because she is teaching a K/1st split class this year due to enrollment being high in both grades. Yes, the class is half kindergarten and half first grade. Girl Twin is doing great in there and we're excited to see her learning. I guess hanging out with the first graders is really advancing her skills because last week she told me: "2 + y = 30" in a very factual manner. I had no idea they were learning algebra already! She also instructed me to stop putting "love notes" in her lunch box, which nearly broke my heart.

 

Big Sis:  This girl is loving 3rd grade. She's in the class with some of her favorite kids, and seems to be doing great. This year, they have to read five chapter books per quarter and be tested on each one for a reading grade. Challenge accepted! The kid just finished her 3rd book last night. Now, if we can get her that fired up about math...

 

We are in a great place right now. We love our school, love all of our teachers and love learning all the new things. There is a strange peaceful feeling in our home that I haven't felt before. Is this what it feels like to not have babies anymore? Big kids rock!

 

 

 

Twin Tuesday: Not Babies Anymore

It's another Twin Tuesday, and I'm feeling particularly anxious this week. Maybe it's because we bought their first round of school supplies and my babies are going to kindergarten open house tomorrow night.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not sad about them starting school--no way! Sometimes people expect me to be sad because my babies are not babies anymore. Heck, no! We've done our baby duty and are ready to move on. I'm ready for a regular schedule and ready for all three kids to be at the same place together all day long. And, above all, I'm ready to stop paying for daycare/babysitting/preschool! Yay for FREE public school!

  

I'm just feeling a little off kilter. Sometimes I look at the twins and literally cannot remember how they got to be five years old. The time between their birth and age 5 seems like a blur of feedings, diaper changes, crying, tantrums, butt wiping, messes and baths. And now, it's so different. They are riding bikes, writing their names, roller skating, hitting baseballs, playing video games and excelling at NEVER BEING QUIET. Mercy, the talking!

 

We have decided to split the twins up for kindergarten, which wasn't really a hard choice for us. My primary argument is that these kids have spent 24 hours a day together for nearly their whole lives. Don't we owe them each a little "me time?" I'm hopeful that spending the day apart will make their time at home together more peaceful and happy. In addition, because one of the twins is excessively dominant (not naming names), this will give Boy Twin (oops!) a chance to let his own light shine and speak for himself on occasion. Poor kid, it must stink having two mamas sometimes. 

 

I am a teeny bit worried about how they will handle the separation, but a level headed kindergarten teacher advised me this week not to sweat it--if the first few days are a disaster, we can always put them together. At our school, the kindergartners aren't assigned a teacher until the 5th day. They spend the first week just shifting kids around in different combinations, with different teachers, getting to know everyone. I didn't like this process for Big Sis, but I think it will be great for the twins to get used to being apart.

 

Here's to new beginnings, growing up and having a SUPER school year x TWO!

 

 

 

 

Big Sis Brag: Smart, Pretty and Almost Grown!

Big Sister's school hosted its annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at the end of February. Although she's had the chance to go for the previous two years, she had not been the least bit interested until this year. Much to our surprise, Big Sis came home one day and said she wanted to go to the dance!

 

The theme this year was Hollywood Red Carpet, so she and I set out to find the perfect dress for the night. After a brief glimpse of what her teenage years will be like --GOD HELP US-- we finally settled (and agreed on) the most beautiful dress for my little Hollywood lady.

 

I rushed home from work on that Friday night to get her prettied up for the big date with daddy. (He cleans up nicely, too.) They left home in the middle of a beautiful snowfall, both smiling and giggling. After dancing the night away with her second grade buddies, daddy even took her out for a post-dance taco dinner.

 

I'm so proud of my sweet baby girl and how much she's changed in the last few years. She's happy, friendly and has such a kind heart for others. And she's quite a pretty girl, too!

While I'm bragging, I'll just add something that her teacher told us at school conferences last month. They have been taking reading and math tests periodically to check their progress and make sure they are on track with the proper grade levels.

 

On the last test period, Big Sis increased her reading score by 27 points (from the end of first grade). The teacher said this is the largest point gain that she'd ever seen on a test!!  She's now reading on level with the middle of third grade. As you can imagine, this makes me so happy. We love reading together.  But now we need to spend as much energy on improving math, where she is riding the line at barely average. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

Second Day Sweetness

I am the mom who doesn't have any pictures of the first day of school. Let's take a look back to understand why.

In 2012--Kindergarten--I had to nearly drag Big Sister into her school, where I left her in tears and scared to death. I may have also left in tears and exhausted from the whole ordeal. There were not any great photo opps, so we chose to wait for a "second day" pic that year, when I got plenty of smiles.

In 2013--First Grade--She was much more excited about the school year, but still very timid and clingy. She looked at me with tears welling in her eyes and said, "Mama, can you stay a little while?"  Again, no first day photo. But I did get a mid-day message from her dear kindergarten teacher letting me know that she had personally checked on my baby and found her smiley, happy and doing A-OK.

In 2014--Second Grade--This year, she was only a tiny bit nervous, which she told me as we walked up the sidewalk to school. I begged for a first day picture, and Miss Can't Be Bothered sighed a big sigh and said, "ugggghhhh."  As I walked away from her classroom (with absolutely no tears--hers or mine), I made her promise me one picture of second day. And I got it!  I also got a sweet text from her first grade teacher (who now lives out of state) letting me know that she had checked on Big Sis the night before and got an excellent report from her new teacher after the first day.

How lucky we are to have such amazing teachers in her life that love her like we do! I know you both read the blog, and I am serious about the lasting impact you've made in her life. Thank you for that.

Back To School Blues

Today was the first day of school for us. Back to early bedtimes and nightly routines, yay! But this morning, none of us were very chipper to greet the day. In fact, here was my first Facebook post of the morning.

After a rough night, I decided to count my blessings to feel better.
1--We got to school on time.
2--No tears at school, and she wanted me to walk her in.
3--I can get photos of the second day because she wouldn't let me today.
4--She wasn't too mad at me because I, her terrible mom, forgot that she was on TV this morning...hence, we didn't even turn the TV on and missed her big debut. Ugh.
5--So very thankful for dear, old sorority friends like Heather Judd who offer to babysit my little ones when we are in a bind.
6--The twins didn't flinch over being left with someone they'd never met before this morning. In fact, I don't think they would have noticed if Freddy Krueger came to babysit, as long as he didn't try to take their Kindles.
7--Thankful I have a job to come to, so I don't have to sit home and look at my messy house today.

*                *                     *                          *           

So, you wanna know why our night was so crummy? It went a little something like this.

11:15pm  Mom & Dad in bed

12:00am  Big Sis woke me up because (oh my!) it was thundering. I sent her away to the couch to sleep. That leaves one empty bed in our house.

1:00-ish  Big Sis again was at my bedside nudging to get in my bed.

1:01-ish  OH! There's Girl Twin, too! It's a party!

I put Big Sis in my bed with Dad. I took Girl Twin to the couch, where I slept on one end and she on the other.  That leaves two empty beds in our house.

3:15am  I hear giggling and loud talking coming from my bedroom, where it seems now that Big Sis and Boy Twin are having a party and Dad is not very happy about it.  There are now three empty beds in our house.

3:30am  ALL FIVE OF US ARE WIDE AWAKE.  And yes, remember that the first day of school starts in approximately 4.5 hours.  Sigh.

3:45am  Everyone seems to have settled down. Boy Twin has been deposited in his bed again. Big Sis is again in my spot in my bed. I'm back on the couch with Girl Twin. Why? There are still two empty beds in our house.

5:00am  Dad has slept through his alarm and is late for work! I happened to wake up on the couch and notice the time. I went into the bedroom to find him frantically getting ready for work. He called to let his supervisor know he'd be late. But, guess what? The supervisor was apparently on vacation today and was greeted with a wake-up call from the hubby. Surprise!

5:05am  I push Big Sis out of my spot in the bed and crawl in beside her. I quickly realize that the 5:45am alarm I'd set is not happening. I reset the alarm for a much later time and decide that I can skip washing my hair in order to sleep longer. After I thought of a few other things I could skip, I was back asleep.

7:00am  Big Sis excitedly awakes to turn on the local morning news to see her big TV debut.  "Is this the right channel?," she asks.  Uh oh.  The segment aired in the 6:00am hour.  Oops.

7:30am  Rushing around the house getting the kids' teeth and hair brushed, begging Big Sis to eat breakfast and yelling at everyone to PUT ON SHOES....all Big Sis could say is, "Why are you rushing me?!?!" in a very impatient tone. 

7:50am  I got that child to her classroom with the little ones in tow. Hugs, kisses and definitely no pictures of her on the first day. That is NOT allowed. If someone is in a decent mood, maybe she will allow photos tomorrow. 

8:00am  Herd the other two back to the van after a little Frogger-style car dodging in the parking lot. It's humid, I'm sweating and I just want a gallon-size Dr. Pepper, for goodness sake!

How was your first day?

Big Sis Bragging

Let me take a minute to brag on Big Sis.  Well, this could take a while. Report cards came home last week and we were blown away by her progress, again. Now, I know it's just first grade, but my heart is swelling with pride for this little girl.

She did great in every subject, but she is excelling in reading. As you can imagine, this makes me very happy. We are currently reading Little House on the Prairie together (it's like 20 chapters!) and I'm enjoying it as much as she is. The only semi-negative comment on her report card was that she still needs to stop talking in class and during times when she shouldn't. We have discussed it, but secretly, I'm really OK with it. Considering that the first day I dropped her off at school I wasn't sure she'd even open her mouth, this is improvement to me.

We've seen so many accomplishments by this girl, just in the past few month. She has her first pair of shoes with laces and can now tie them by herself. She can read chapter books. And, just this past weekend, she learned to ride her bike without the training wheels! This kid is growing up fast and I'm not sure I like it. But I know that her dad and I are both super proud of her, nonetheless.

 



Big Sis Bragging

We had parent-teacher conferences earlier this week at Big Sis's school.  We are so happy with how she has excelled this year!  Her teacher let us know that she works well by herself and in groups, and that she is respectful of others in the classroom.  She has improved on just about every subject since last semester.  She is reading at grade level (and probably above) and doing fine in math.  We just need to work on the talking in the hallways and when it's quiet time....but, secretly, I'm OK with that.

 

 

 

 

 We are so happy with her first grade teacher.  I'll admit, after having such a great kindergarten experience, I was doubtful that we'd get lucky twice.  But we did!  Big Sis just adores her teacher!  Here is a picture she texted me on "mustache day."  Of course, Big Sis doesn't want any part of dress up or silly days at school.  Only on PJ day!  I can't deny that she's my kid for sure.

 

 

 

 I also love getting random texts from her teacher to show me that Big Sis is having fun or doing her work at school.  It just makes me feel very connected to the classroom.  It also makes me a tiny bit sad that Big Sis is growing up.  My heart is full and Lee and I are so very proud of our little bookworm.

 

 

 

Big Sis = Trouble

Yesterday Big Sis came home from school with a doozy of a story. Lee called me at work to see if I had heard anything about "this crazy story" she was telling him.

She was very matter-of-fact in her rendition of the details that her teacher said she didn't have to come to school today.  In fact, she swore that her teacher told her to stay home.  Now, I had heard nothing of this.  Big Sis explained that all of the kids in her class had been assigned a classroom "job," and that hers was to be on vacation and take the next day off. Now, that's some clever homework! I want that assignment!

For the next few hours, she kept insisting that she was correct in her understanding of the assignment.  So, being the high-tech and connected mom that I am, I sent her teacher a text to get the scoop.  She replied to my text immediately with several "LOLs and HAHAHA's."  Apparently, Big Sis got some of the info correct, but not all of it.  With 20 kids in her class, there were only jobs for half of them (line leader, pencil sharpener, door holder, etc). Big Sis didn't get assigned a job this week; therefore, she was on "vacation," and would get her turn at a job next week.  

So, we figure that my kid is either very literal in her comprehension of things, or worse, she's got a little Bueller in her.  If she's already trying to skip school in the first grade, at least we'll know to watch her close in high school!  I'm sure she takes after her dad. Bueller?  Bueller?  

Big Sis Bragging

It's time for some more bragging on our big girl.  The first report card of the year came home last week, and we couldn't be more proud of her.  She got an E (the best) in Reading and all S's in the other subjects.  She does need to work on her handwriting a little bit (S-) and work on keeping her desk area cleaner.  If we were grading her cleanliness at home, she would get an S- or worse.

 

She's not had any behavior problems this year and she's doing great socially.  The teacher had nothing but great things to say about her progress!

 

I'm really the most excited about her reading. Like me, she loves to read! Yay!  I love that she really tries hard and sounds out the words that stump her. She is determined and very interested in learning.

 

Here is a photo of her reading to me a couple of weeks ago before bed.  I am so super proud of Big Sis.  She's kicking 1st grade's butt.

Welcome to First Grade!

It's back to school time here.  Big Sis is now officially a first grader!  How did this happen?  Not too long ago, we were nervously awaiting the start of kindergarten.

Our little Nervous Nelly was not exactly looking forward to another "first day."  She told me more than once that she was nervous, and had a little trouble getting settled down for bed the night before.  At Open House night, she cried the whole time so we didn't stay long.  That only made me dread the first day more.

I left her sitting at her little desk as tears welled in her eyes the first day. But by noon, I received a message from her kindergarten teacher (aka my spy) who said she was all smiley and happy.  I only had to walk her in for the first three days, at her request.  After that she went willingly on her own.

Just so we can compare--we don't take photos on the first day because of tears--

Kindergarten Second Day:

And, 1st Grade Second Day:

We are now on our second week of school and she's doing great.  Of course, I knew she would.  The funny thing is that today she got in a little bit of trouble for TALKING!  This is totally ironic to me since she didn't even open her mouth to speak to her teacher while I was there!  This is just another sign that she's going to be A-OK.

Our Kindergarten Graduate

It's been a busy month for us since school let out.  Big Sis was only out of school for about a week until she and the littles loaded up to go stay a week at Grammy's house.  I realized that I didn't even post all of the photos from her graduation celebration.

They started out with a little program for the kids to sing to us. It was in the morning, so Lee wasn't able to go because of work. I took Girl Twin, who was missing daycare due to the "24 hour rule," and we had a great time.  Big Sis has really come a long way from that first day of school when I don't think she spoke a word to anyone.  I've said it here before, but we are so thankful for her wonderful teacher who was so kind, patient and special to her.  The sad thing is that Big Sis will be losing her two friends from her class because they are moving to different schools next year.  

She got a great final report card and scored above average on reading...you know that makes this mama happy!  She is writing and reading simple books.  We are going to work on math over the summer and get ready to have a great first grade year.

She's just left of center--can you see her little head poking up?

With her teacher, Mrs. Cloud

Look at that sweet, toothless smile!

My girls with Big Sis's BFF from school. Her first sleepover buddy!

100th Day of School

There was a big milestone in our house last week. It was the 100th day of school for Big Sis.  Yes, she's been in kindergarten for 100 days!! Unfortunately, she was absent on the 100th day, home sick with an ear infection.  But on the bright side, her class celebrated all week with a special show and tell AND she only had an ear infection and not the nasty flu that's been going around.  

Our school didn't make a big fuss over the 100th Day, like some schools do. I saw many of my friends posting pictures on Facebook of all the cute homemade T-shirts they were making and costumes their kids were wearing for the 100th Day.  Big Sister's only assignment was to bring in 100 pieces of something....anything.  Easy!

Being the overachieving mom that I am, we did not settle for 100 pieces of plain 'ole pasta. No, that would have been too easy.  So I got on the Google and found out how to color the pasta.  Here's what we came up with:

Ingredients:  dry pasta, alcohol and food coloring

Even the little ones got involved.
Well, Boy Twin was apparently too busy catching up on his magazine reading to help us.

Put in pasta and 4 drops of coloring, along with 2 tablespoons of alcohol.
Shake  it up.  

Let pasta dry overnight.

Our finished product!  A giant 100-piece pasta chain!
Doesn't the hubs look thrilled?

Big Sis Bragging

I just needed another chance to brag on my big girl.  Report cards came home earlier this week, and she did fantastic!  What's funny is that I had the 'ol report card anxiety all day on Monday.  This is strange because, for one, it's not my report card and, two, she's in KINDERGARTEN!  It's not like she's going to flunk out or anything.  Old habits die hard, I guess.

 

This was the report card for 2nd quarter.  She scored the same or higher than 1st quarter in every category: reading, writing, math, PE, music and maybe something else.  Her highest score is in math---whose kid is she, anyway?--in which she got an 'E' for excellent. 

 

Her teacher wrote some really nice comments on her card, like how Big Sis is a hard worker and that she is fun to watch.  Every day I'm thankful that she has a great teacher and that we've had no major issues with our "big school" experience.

 

We are all excited that she has started bringing home short books to read for her homework this week. The instructions say she must read them to us, without our help.  Every night, we ask her to read to us separately, so she gets to read the books twice for more practice.  The girl has always loved books, see this picture from 2008, so I cannot wait until she can enjoy reading them!

Am I raising juvenile delinquents?

It's been an interesting couple of weeks at our house. It seems that two-thirds of my children have been causing some trouble at school. There's nothing like getting a note from the teacher to make you feel like you are an incompetent parent.

Offender Number One:  Boy Twin. He is two years old.  He is a BOY.  In taking these two things into consideration, I know that his behavior is probably very normal.  Here's the DL. I got a phone call at work after Lee picked up the littles from daycare. Him: "Boy Twin got a police report sent home today."  Me:  "What?!"  Him:  "Well, it says incident report, but it looks like a police report."  Apparently, our angel-faced boy hit another kid with a SHOVEL....yes, a shovel.  I didn't ask, but I assumed that it was a plastic playground shovel, and tried not to think about the vision of Tony Soprano in my head.

So, how do you talk to a two-year-old about hitting? We sat him down and tried. He nodded and replied, "OK" in all the appropriate places. For punishment, I took away his new fire truck that he'd been playing with.  That certainly  made a point; he was so mad that he tried to hit me with a shovel. (kidding!)

Fast forward a couple of weeks.

Offender Number Two:  Big Sis.  She's five, and has been in a daycare/school setting since she was a toddler. I got an email from her kindergarten teacher.  Big Sis has always had a tendency to latch on to one kid and be "a follower," for lack of a better word.  She has a new friend in class, but now she's trying to keep the other kids from playing with them. Apparently, she's said some mean things to make her point to the other kids. Again, the vision in my head is not good---Lindsey Lohan in Mean Girls, anyone?  Her teacher assured me that she's a sweet girl, she just needs to watch her mouth.  As you know, we've been having this problem at home, too. The mouth! I didn't expect this kind of attitude for at least five more years! Oops.  So, we've talked to her this week. The teacher also talked to her.  I don't want my baby to be a Mean Girl!! We didn't punish her or tell her about the teacher's note.  I gave her a good talking to and a lesson on The Golden Rule....we will see how this turns out. She's a sweet and smart girl;  I don't want her blacklisted from the first grade. Good grief, the drama!


Note:  I am not looking for parenting advice or for anyone to tell me what a crappy parent I am. We are all learning as we go and doing the best we can.