Sunday, September 30, 2012

September Favorite Things

Necessary reading for new new kindergarteners,

 riding trollies while school shopping,

 pumpkin err'thing all day every day,

 September Ipsy / Glam Bag

 sleepy school mornings,

 rocking out at the PTO meeting,

 snuggle sessions with my best girls,

 organized lingerie drawers,

and warm fall night date nights with my husband.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Rummage Sale Love and Bits of Leopard


Found these two mirrors at a rummage sale. Couldn't pass them up, obviously. Leopard. Sun burst. Love! And only $20 for both??? Yes, please.

I'm planning on hanging the sun burst mirror in our living room above the couch, but I'm going to wait until the kiddos get their school pictures taken so I can re-do that whole wall.

And the leopard mirror is going in our master bedroom, where other bits of leopard reside.




I've already have it hung, in fact.

Before:

And after. 
I love the texture and the mixing of prints, but I'm not sold on the size or the location of this mirror. 
A work in progress, I guess. Much like this whole room.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Homecoming!





Clay took Narls to help build Narls' kindergarten float, and later we attended our town's homecoming parade & football game, all wearing hometown sweatshirts. My suburban nuclear-family heart was so full it almost burst. Until the rain started, then we left at halftime. But the bliss continued at home, in our pajamas, comfy & dry. And we heard on the news that our team won! Yay, dragons :)

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Family Day

One of the best things about kindergarten? Teacher in-service days! I took the day off to stay home with Narls, and obviously we'd keep Em home with us, and then Clay took the day off, and before we knew it we had an impromptu family day. 


God I love it when things work out like that.





Annnnnd I love when outlet malls have these little ride things. 
Clay & I are not above bribing our kids with rides to get from store to store ;)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Happy Girl. Happy Momma.




We had about thirty minutes between Em's preschool and her Bitty Poms class, so we spent this beautiful afternoon at the park. My beautiful girl, I'm overwhelmed at how much she has grown, at how smart she is, how hilarious.  There's no one else I'd rather spend an afternoon at the park with.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Fall Goodness

Got some turkey chili in the crockpot, waiting for us when we get home from our day...

and a batch of homemade blueberry pistachio granola, just waiting to be cut into bars, for dessert.

Perfect for a fall day.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Ren Fest Fun (or lack thereof)






Clay and I took the kiddos to the Renaissance Festival a few weekends ago.  Don't let their smiling faces fool you; they had a miserable time.  It was too hot, too dirty, the lines were too long, and Em was terrified (no exaggeration) of costumed adult there (and there were many), but she got her fairy wings and Narls got his sword & shield, and we were home in time for food & naps so all ended right in their world.

Last weekend Clay and I did as we should of done from the beginning and headed back without them. We met up with Clay's brother and his wife, and had a hilarious time. There are no pictures because our hands were full of beer and turkey legs, as adult's hand should be at Ren Fests.  Lesson learned.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Reading and Writing and Adjusting

Well the first two weeks of kindergarten have been interesting.


The Welcome-to-Kindergarten letter I was eagerly anticipating? We got it in the mail approximately four days before school started. It contained no school supply list, no bus information, no school menu- just a welcome paragraph instructing parents to attend the first day of school with their children, and oh, that first day is only an hour long for kindergarteners.

Four days later, 27 kindergarteners and their accompanying parents crowded into a tiny classroom that lacked air-conditioning, and listened to a darling, but very nervous, teacher explain what this upcoming year would bring. We also received the school supply list, the bus information, and the school menu.


For a compulsive planner and organizer such as myself, this was a nightmare. I need time to plan and organize and basically get my mind wrapped around a change before I can commit myself to it and this school was giving me very little time to do that.
Clay and I left that first day with our boy, took him to the store to get his school supplies, he caught the bus the next morning without issue, and I’ve always intended on packing his lunch so really that lunch menu was pretty inconsequential.


This is new. I adjusted. We made it work. And it was fine.


Which is how I’m hoping it will go with Narls’ behavior. He was in time-out the first two days of school, prompting the teacher to ask Clay at pick-up time “how old is he?” And Wednesday of this week, he was in time-out FOUR TIMES. In one day. He behavior went into “red” status (danger zone apparently) and he was asked to leave his music class for climbing on a table.

I’m shocked and disappointed to hear this, and I’m not even going to begin to make excuses for his actions. He had his punishment at school, Clay and I implemented our punishment at home, and we’ve had many discussions explaining to him how this behavior is unacceptable.


Clay and I attended an Open House at his elementary school last night and I apologized to his teacher. “He’s curious and he’s impressionable and he was doing the same thing his classmates were doing”, she replied with a smile. “It’s an adjustment for everybody.” Gone was the nervous woman from that first day and in front of me was a confident teacher who has faith in my boy. “Narls is very smart, and his vocabulary and imagination are outstanding.”


No focus on the bad, just a quiet assurance that he’ll do better.
Funny how much I, a grownup, can still learn from a kindergarten teacher.


This is new.  He will adjust. We’ll make it work. And it’ll be fine.