First Day of Pre-school

Last Day of Pre-school

It’s hard to believe that he’s grown that much in nine months.  In that short span of time, he’s gone from being a baby and turned into a kid.

Today was Roark’s last day of pre-school.  I was more torn up about it more than he was.  For the past three months, he has been waiting for this day.  He was only going two days a week, but every time I dropped him off he would ask why he couldn’t just stay home with me.  He wasn’t ugly about it, and he would walk into his classroom without a fuss.  But he always asked.

So today when I was finally able to tell him that he didn’t have to come back, he was excited. While other kids were crying in the halls as they told their teachers good-bye, he never looked back.  He definitely had that “school’s out for the summer” attitude, as he pushed the door of the school open one last time to go to the car.  Balloon in one hand, sand pail full of gifts in the other, and a his book bag on his back, he was ready to be done.

For the first time in five years, I will not have a child going to that school.  I felt myself getting a little sentimental today as we walked out of there like we’ve done so many afternoons in the past, knowing it was our last.

Just another reminder that my babies are growing up and how quickly things change.

In the past couple of weeks, Roark has really grown into his role as an annoying little brother.  He has recently discovered that even though he might not be equal to Edie in size, he does possess the ability to  outwit her in a game of aggravation.   She’s an easy target really because  she’s easily annoyed, and he takes every advantage of it.

For example, he’s started calling her “Eddie” on a regular basis.  She hates being called “Eddie”.  In fact, the handful of times that someone has misread her name and pronounced it “Eddie”, she acted like it was a personal insult and burst into tears.  Roark saw an opportunity and seized it.

All that being said, I made chalk paint for the kids to play with while I did some yard work the other day.  (Stay with me…I’ll bring it back to Roark being annoying in a minute.)  I used the 1 part cornstarch to 1 part water recipe I found on Pinterest.  Added some food coloring to each of the individual bowls, and wa-la…chalk paint.  We used those sponge on a stick things as brushes which worked well.

At first the paint was a big hit.  They both were really excited about making masterpieces on the driveway with something besides regular chalk…but it didn’t take long for the bickering to begin.

First Roark took all the paint brushes away.  Next, he slowly began moving the paint away from his sister.  He was really doing very little painting after about five minutes and more just looking for opportunities to aggravate which meant every thirty seconds or so I had to stop what I was doing to settle an argument.

“Mo-om, Roark stole ALL the brushes!”

“Mo-om, Roark stole ALL  the paint!”

I think our chalk paint experience ended about fifteen minutes after it began.  I quit responding to the tattling and Edie took matters into her own hands by spraying her brother down with the hose.  I said some ugly things under my breath, and then sent everybody inside.  Good times.

All that being said, I really am a fan of chalk paint and I really think my kids would have been too if it hadn’t been one of those days.  Please tell me every brother/sister team have those days where they wake up and decide to spend the entire day driving the other one crazy.  Anyone? Please?!

Even in the short amount of time they actually spent painting in-between the fighting, Edie manage to create some really neat art work.

And after it dried, the colors became more vibrant…way more than regular chalk.  It really was pretty.  It reminded me of the sidewalk pictures Bert paints in Mary Poppins.

So I’m pretty sure we will give sidewalk paint another try on another day because it really didn’t get a fair shake.

About five years ago, my sweet husband created this blog for me.  He was sure that I was going to love having a space to journal about my babies and record our photography even though I told him over and over again that I didn’t have time for it.  He created this web site anyway.

So maybe he knows me better than I know myself.

For about two years, he’s been trying to convince me to have a garden.  He’s sure I will love it, but I have protested and brought back my tried and true excuse.  I don’t have time for it.  He researched it anyway.

He found this book and bought it from Amazon:

Apparently square foot gardens are not a new idea, but they are new to us.  This method really seems to makes sense to me.  I don’t have to work in my soil worrying about Ph and other things I know nothing about, and I only grow what I need.  I thought he was moving in the right direction.  When he told me he would build the box for me and help with the planting, I finally conceded.

People spend years trying to get the right soil balance for their gardens.  I literally spent one day driving to different nurseries and buying all the soil (plus a few flowers to plant in containers on the deck).   Already this gardening thing seemed easier than I was expecting.

Then we spent a Saturday making the boxes.  I use the term “we” very loosely here.  I really mean Ken.  I helped stain the outside and I made sure he had a drink when he was thirsty.  That was pretty much my involvement of the building process. 

This guy is committed to trying to get me to garden.

Next we laid down a big tarp and started mixing all those bags of soil together.  The kids really got into this job. Even though we told them they were basically shoveling cow and chicken poo, they didn’t care.  I’m afraid the phrase “Don’t lay in it!” had to be said more than once.

Also, I should tell you that this is pretty much the way Edie’s hair looks when are at home.  That girl can sport a fro! Normally, I would have brushed her hair before I dared pull out my camera, but this point and shoot is making me do crazy things! It’s changing me, I tell ya’!

Next we hauled our boxes to the back yard and filled them with our dirt.

That was pretty much a full day for us…making the boxes and mixing the dirt.  So we waited until Sunday afternoon to attach the grid and plant our seeds.

While Ken worked on making the grid, Edie and I got the seeds ready.

We are planting tomatoes, corn, spinach, bell peppers, sweet peppers, carrots, onions, watermelons, strawberries,cucumbers, green beans, many kinds of lettuce, basil, cilantro, thyme, and oregano.  Plus some morning glories, sunflowers, and marigolds to make it pretty.  I love that we can plant so much in such a little bit of space.  We haven’t proved that this method works yet, but if it does, I might just become a gardener.

Edie picked out our labels for us.

Next, we laid out where each seed was to be planted.

Then we stuck them in the dirt!

It’s been twelve days since we planted everything, and our seeds have all come up (with the exception of the oregano).  We didn’t use seeds for the strawberries, peppers, and tomatoes because it would have been too late in the season by the time they started producing fruit.  But the plants that we planted seem to be thriving as well.

We go out every morning and water the boxes.  Since we are new to this gardening thing, we are pretty much following the book step by step.  It recommends using cups for watering, and so that is what we do.  This really is better for the kids anyway because they can actually water the garden instead of watching me do it with the hose.  Edie has really taken a lot of ownership of this project which has been fun to watch.  She can hardly contain herself when she finds a new seed sprouting.  Seriously…think Christmas morning.

One last picture of her sitting by her garden.  I’m hoping that her enthusiasm will overflow into her actually eating some of the fruits of our labor.  Hopefully, we’ll know soon!

I told him this morning how much I love his freckles.

He crinkled his nose and said, “Freckles? I don’t have any freckles, Mommy.”

I guess he doesn’t have any eyelashes either.

I’m sure you’ve seen these Summer Bucket Lists on Pinterest.  They come in a lot of different ways.  I’ve seen all kinds of summer goals listed out in super cute layouts  or written in a fancy font on poster board by mommies that are much more artistic than me.  Some have made little colorful pockets and others have used clothespins, but the point of these lists is the same:  set some goals for the summer, get out of your rut, and shake things up a bit.

And while, I stink at scrap booking and being artistic, I am a pro at making lists.  So I thought I would give it a try.

I thought about putting my list in Excel because Excel makes all lists better as any accountant will tell you, but  I didn’t see how I could import it into the blog.  So here’s my list in boring black and white:

Summer List 2012

1.  Library Story Time – Even though this is a no-brainer because we do it anyway, I’m putting it first on the list to make me feel like I’m accomplishing something.

2.  Take a nature walk..  Take along a journal, let the kids bring cameras.

3.  Create a nature book from your pictures of #2.

4.  Cook with the kids.  Let them plan it, be apart of the shopping, and table setting.

5.  Do a sewing project with Edie.  Make an apron or summer dress.

6.  Hide all the army men, mini animals, etc. in a sand pit or block of ice- have a excavation.

7.  Make an obstacle course in the back yard and have races.

8.  Go bowling.

9.  Plant a garden.

10.  Create a garden journal and record the progress of #9.

11.  Make a bird feeder.

12.  Go camping.

13.  Make homemade play dough.

14.  Gather, paint, make pet rocks.

15.   Go to a farm and pick strawberries/blueberries.

16.  Camp-out in the den.

17.  Wash the car at home.

18.  Make chalk paint.

19.  Go to a play.

20. Go to a splash pad.

21.  Make cupcakes.

22.  Go mini-golfing.

23.  Learn how to fold a new paper airplane.  See what type flies farthest.

24.  Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member.

25.  Have a nature scavenger hunt.

26.  Dollar movies.

27.  Go out for ice cream.

28.  Ride go-carts.

29.  Have a lemonade stand.

30.  Decorate t-shirts.

There you have it.  The McKibben’s summer bucket list, and by summer, I mean starting today and going through the end of August.  I wanted to give myself plenty of time so I can complete it and not feel like a loser who sets goals and then doesn’t accomplish them.  Besides, it’s already getting into the 80’s around here, so if feels like summer.  I might as well treat it that way.

I tried to list things that we don’t normally do (with maybe a couple of exceptions).  It’s a given that we’re going to play in the sprinkler a zillion times this summer.  And we are definitely doing the Alabama Adventure thing again.  On a side note, Roark wakes up every day asking if  Alabama Adventure is open yet and if we can go.  Seriously, every day.  And since he really doesn’t understand calendars, telling him in a month is basically just saying, “It’s not open today.”  So he just waits until the next morning, and we have the same conversation all over again.  All of that to say, there’s no way I can tell him that we weren’t going to be doing that again this summer.  It would be an ugly scene and much to pitiful for me to bare.

My plan is that as I check them off, I will update the blog with pictures and funny anecdotes.

Alright, I’m off to do something fun!

And without further ado, our Easter pictures on the swing:

Admit it…you find them as adorable as I do.

If my folks have anymore grand kids, I think we’re going to have to get a bigger swing.

This is my brother’s clan.

The kids endure the photo session so they can take this one picture at the end.  Unfortunately, neither of the boys held out long enough to be a part of it.

It’s funny how freeing a little point-and-shoot camera can be.  I just spent 45 minutes working in Photoshop on our Easter pictures taken with my fancy camera, and I’m still not happy with the color balance.  Then I walked outside with my new little camera and snapped a couple of shots of Edie and the neighbor’s kid, and I could care less that they aren’t perfect.  And I’m posting them on the blog!  Who can explain these things?

Take this one for example.  This never would have made the cut before, but some reason, I like it.  And why shouldn’t I?  It’s my kid with crazy hair, holding a worm.  What’s not to love?

I even got a little artsy and took a picture of the only plant I haven’t killed this year.

And then I even got a little more artsy.  I call this one “The Aftermath of Momma Kitty.”

But then I just went back to shooting subjects that I am familiar with.

Oh yea, this is going to be fun…

#1.  I’m at work today (instead of my normal Tuesday) because Ken scheduled a meeting for me next Thursday.  Makes sense right?  Guess I’ll be changing my work day next week as well.

#2.  My kids play the game “Jinx” about a zillion times a day.  You know, “Jinx. Buy me a coke.”  They play it so much that I find myself Jinxing people even when the kiddos are no where around. We don’t really buy each other cokes, though.  Instead, we play the version where you can’t talk until someone says your name.  Roark and I have a system.  If we put our finger on our nose it means, “I’ve been Jinxed.  Will you please say my name?”  Works like a charm.

#3.  I bought my very first point and shoot camera this week.  I am waiting for it to be delivered.  I have no idea if I’ll love it or hate it.  Ken’s money is on hating it.  I broke down and bought it because I’m tired of not taking pictures ’cause of less than ideal conditions.  At least this way, when I produce crappy pictures I can blame it on the camera, right?  I’m hoping it will help me post more of our adventures on the blog because I don’t have to lug around a big camera bag to snap a pic or two. 

#4.  Last week as I was putting Roark to bed, I randomly broke our good-night routine.  Instead of saying my normal, “Good night.  I love you,” I decided last minute to shake things up and said, “You know…there’s nothing you could ever do that would make Mommy stop loving you.”  This must have really hit home with him because now he is constantly telling me “I’ll never stop loving you, Mommy!” Seriously, I think I heard it at least fifty times yesterday.  At least.  Sometimes it’s said as an after thought when he’s leaving the room, and then there are times when he yells it at me in the Dollar Store while running down the aisle.  Every time it melts my heart.  

#5.  Ken started working on our bathroom project again after about a 4 month hiatus.  (In his defense, he was out of town for most of that time.  Poor project timing on our part.) We now have tile in the shower and bead board on the walls.  You no longer have to use your imagination to envision how good it’s going to look.  Very exciting.

…that cat I planted last season is really blooming nicely!

It’s spring, folks! We’ve got caterpillars in a jar to prove it.  The kids have been out this morning collecting all kinds of critters.  The trophy critter is definitely the frog.  And even though, we are probably ruining that frog’s morning, he is totally entertaining my kids while I tackle the mountain of laundry that has been hanging over me for days.  So a big “thanks” goes out to you, Froggy Frogster ( the name my kids picked out him).

In honor of spring, I let the kids buy ice cream from the ice cream truck last week.  Already this decision has come back to haunt me because I didn’t allow the kids to buy more ice cream when he came driving through our neighborhood the VERY NEXT DAY.  I know.  I’m horrible, and believe me, I paid for it by having to put up with tears and tantrums, and little people being sent to their rooms.

Ahhhh, the magic of  spring…

Here are some pictures from the day I was Super Nice Mommy:

Her lips crack me up in this picture.  Have you ever seen a fish eat ice cream?  I imagine it looks something like this.

Notice the drops of melted ice cream on his pants.  By the end of treat, he was covered in melted Scooby Doo.  COVERED!  I like to think that I’ve really made huge strides in overcoming some of my queasiness since I’ve become a mother, but even a week later, thinking about that melted Scooby Doo makes my stomach do flip-flops.

On a completely unrelated note, I have an announcement to make.  I got pinned to Pinterest!  Oh yea! Somebody that I don’t even know pinned a picture of a dress I smocked for Edie.  I’ve hit the big time now! It doesn’t matter that only three people read my blog and I rarely have any comments, I’m on Pinterest.  Thank you random person!  You totally made my day.