August 2006 Archives
Well, this year is of full of changes and this week marked another "new" for us. My classes at Blinn began this week and I am officially "on the road again" to complete my degree in K-4 Interdisciplinary Studies (fancy speak for teaching degree).
My college career has been a little rocky to say the least, as far as being able to stay in consistently. My grades have always been good, it was always just a matter of trying to fight off a flare up without having to drop the semester. But after my last bout with colitis and the surgeries that followed I made a promise to myself that when the twins started kindergarten I was going to get in and get done! Little did I know that I would have Mr. Philip to work around, but all of that has fallen into place. I am taking one class on campus and three online (12 hours - whew!). My next move is to try and get into A&M's Education Dept ASAP because I am just about out of classes I can take at Blinn that will transfer for my degree.
I think that I can safely say that my first day of classes was probably not like that of your typical college student. Theirs probably goes something like this: roll out of bed in just enought time to get yourself dressed, grab yourself some breakfast (with mom and dad's $), drive yourself to school, go to class and go home for a nap before your next class. I know this is an exaggeration but it's what I'm going with!
And this is how a 31 year old, mother of four's first day back to school went:
Up at 6:15 (after just getting back to sleep from Philip's 5:30 nursing) and got the kids clothes ready (had to make sure that the twins both have yellow shirts because it's Yellow Day). Got the three big kids up, dressed and fed (imagine LOTS of whining here). Gave Philip a bottle, Matthew has been handling this part but Philip was really fussy today. Checked backpacks to make sure I signed all calendars. Made sure Matthew is up and moving. Took big kids to school and then me and Philip ran by the store for pasta salad I had to take to a luncheon, and dropped by the bank in the store to make a deposit. Got home and got the pasta salad started and fed Philip two jars of baby food and some cereal (he's a piggy), while chatting with Matthew as he got dressed for work. After Matt left I checked my emails and started a load of laundry and goy my school bag and Philip's bags ready. I realized I forgot Mayo for the pasta salad, so I loaded up Philip and the pasta salad (all ready except for the mayo) and stopped by the store again. I went to Scott and White (met Kathy there to give her Philip - Emily had an appt at 9:40) and finished mixing up my pasta salad in the van while I was waiting. When Kathy was done, I passed Philip (and the pasta salad!) over to her. I headed to school, but at a stop light I noticed just HOW many gray hairs I am getting and attempted to pull at least a few of the most obvious so they don't shine like a beacon in class. I was very lucky and found a good parking spot to pull my big mommmy minivan full of carseats into. Class went very well. I only felt old once - my professor was explaining that she moved from England to the US in 1981 "well before any of you were born". Not quite, lady. After leaving class I met Kathy at the church building for the luncheon (Philip and the pasta salad had made it safely there!), and then headed home to pick up the house, check my online courses and then pick the kids up from school. Gotta love the good ol' college days!
And I do realize that all of those super organized people will say that it would have been much easier if I would have done most of the preparation the night before. Yeah right, that's just not gonna happen most of the time!
Well, I have tried to blog several times in the past week, but between interruptions and my Flicker blog not working for me it just didn't happen. So, here I go, just with no pictures like I wanted.
We successfully made it throughe first week of school with the kiddos!! After a very long summer we were all anxious to get back into a good routine, that is if you can call me gettig up at te crack of down to go through piles of clothes to make sure everyone has clean and tidy apparrel for the day routine. I am still struggling with keeping the laundry cught up - but that is a whole other blog!.
Luke, Sam and Maddy all did great the first week of school and have got off to a good start this weekas well. Luke loves the first grade - his teacher is Mrs. Scambray - and he was so excited that his best friend Andrew is in his class, it's great to have a good buddy! And we were very pleased to find that Sam and Maddy's teachers both fit their personalities so well. Mrs. Crow is very soft spoken, gentle and really organized which makes Maddy feel super comfortable. And Mrs. Olson is so fun and exuberant that Sam has just had a blast with her. And we must have somehow done something right becuase when I picked them up yesterday Mrs. Olson said that she and Mrs. Crow wanted to know how we came to have three of the most wonderful children in one family. I thought about asking her if she would like to come home with me and see the Incredible Hulkish transformation that each of them can make the minute they are in the van and under my care. But, instead I just thanked her, took my compliemtn and RAN!! I have figured out that my kids are so tired of being good, behaved children ALL day that when they get with me they decide I can be the outlet for their grumpy little alter-egos. But, if they've got to let it out, I'm glad it is with me (although our praents and Kathy have been witness to it many times, also!).
Oh, and I must sy that I did pretty good on their first day of school. I did not cry when I was getting all their things ready the night before, or when they were getting dressed, or when we took pictures, or when we took them to their classes, or even when Matthew, Philip and I drove away from the school - that was a toughie. I got home and started picking up the house (much easier to do with 1 rather than 7 kids). I picked up clothes, cleared cereal bowls and straightened beds - and the next thing I knew I found myself sitting on Maddy's bed holding her Angelia Ballerina and crying like a baby. Oh - I knew it was coming!
Maddy made me giggle today - here's how it went:
Maddy: Mommy, Emily is holding on to your leg to stand up.
Me: I know, I can feel her hands.
Maddy: How can we feel if we have skin covering us?
Me: We have nerves in our body that let us feel.
Maddy: You mean nerds, like when we get on your nerds?
Oh - I'm a bad mommy, huh.
Ahhh, wouldn't it be nice if life were just one big vacation? We just had the wonderful opportunity to go on vacation with my family (everyone except my youngest sister - we missed you, Lindsey!!) to Port Aransas. My parents have pretty much made a tradition of going the first week of August every year, and whoever is able to go that year does. But, this was the first year since I have been married that we were all abe to go (oh, and except for my brother-in-law James!). It was also special because no one was able to go last year since my dad was recovering from the heart attack and surgery he had at the beginning of the year. So, we loaded up 8 adults and 10 kids (yes - we even took Philip with us - aren't we brave!!) and headed for the coast.
It was Sam and Maddy's first time to see the beach and they absolutely loved it. I was amazed at how they took off and ran into the ocean without hesitation. We first took Luke when he was almost four and he was not such a happy camper!! But he liked it this time, and we found out that Philip is our little water baby. He loved sitting on the shore and letting the waves lap up on him, until he would get a mouthful of saltwater which made him none too happy. He didn't sleep great because he cut a couple of more teeth, that makes 6 now! But who can complain about sitting out on the balcony at 5 AM, listening to the ocean and feeling the breeze as I nusre him back to sleep? Talk about luxurious.
We stayed at the Sandcastle Condo's and I am amazed every time we are there how great the accomodations are. This year was the best. We stayed in a two bedroom suite with my sister and extra kiddos and I could not believe how big it was. I am positive the it had more square footage than our house. Each bedroom and the living room all had full wall sliding doors with a view of the pool and beach. I think the kids liked the room and pool just as much or more than the actual beach!! It's so nice because there is a walkway from our condos straight down to the beach, so you can come and go as much as you like.
We got to spend good times with my family, althought not as much as we wanted and even had a chance to eat a GREAT seafood dinner at our favorite place there, Trout Street Grill .
My dad, brother-in-law Tim, and two nephews Alex and Johnny all went out on one of the fishing boats and even caught some fish this year!!
Matthew took some amazing pictures from our room on the last night, there was a full moon and it was so beautiful. We put a lot of pics up on flicker so take a look! As I am sitting here in the house with the seven kiddos, scrambling around trying to get ready for school tomorrow I just block out the noise and recall the soothing sound of the ocean waves coming lulling me to sleep.
