Power Tools

I was just down in the garage using my new compound miter saw while Jeff's at work tonight. Part of me (a small part of me) feels a little nervous about using power tools without adult supervision but the other part, the larger part, is telling me that I am so TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!

I know when my Mother reads this she will be worried about me. Mom. Don't be. Protective eye wear? Check. Hands clear from the blade? Check. (so far).

Callum is One

Ohhh. It has been a long week. We are starting to feel a little bit more settled into a routine around here with Lauren going to school everyday and Kenna going to preschool three days a week. Poor Callum's naps were pretty much a disaster for a while. He turned one last Sunday. I can't believe it has been a whole year since he has been around. He is so fun, and a little grumpy. He has such a beautiful smile that is so affecting. It just melts your heart. Callum is for sure a momma's boy. When I walk out of the room he cries the most heart breaking cry, like I have just ruined his entire life. Its pretty ridiculous actually. But that's the danger when you are such a cool mom. We had a pretty low key party for him on his birthday. We invited our friends the Kings and some of our neighbors.

 

The girls were most helpful to Callum by opening his presents for him
and then by proceeding to play with them. Look at that little face just trying to see what
his present even was. 

The birthday cake. I know it's not glamorous. I didn't put a lot of thought or time into it.
I refuse to put so much work into something no one is going to appreciate. 

Apparently he didn't get too messy because this is the only picture that I took of him
eating his cake. I'm pretty sure he never even really ate the cake he just played with the frosting.
(Which by the way is fine by me. I always thought it was a strange tradition. Think about it; we don't let our babies have sweets and then the turn one and let them have a whole cake to themselves. Imagine the poor little tummy aches).

Me and my boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!!!!!!!

Conversations

I just want to jot down some funny conversations that I have had with Lauren on the way home from the bus stop.

Me: Did you have fun at Kindergarten today?
Lauren: Kindergarten is a lot of work, and my arm pits got sweaty on the bus today.


Me: Is Margarita older than you?
Lauren: No. She is the same five as me, but her feet are big.

Tears???

Today there were no tears shed. Lauren woke me up this morning twenty minutes before she was supposed to be at the bus stop. So there was no cute pancake with a face on it for her first day kindergarten like I had been dreaming about. There was no shower for me before I walked her and the kids to the bus stop. Let's just say that I am setting the standard low for I will be looking in front of all my neighbors.

We got there plenty early though and the only other kid there was Stephen the boy who leaves across the green middle from us. He and the girls play together a lot. (Well they try to play together. Lets just say that the girls aren't very good at the things he likes to do. (i.e. soccer, tag, war). The girls love him, but he is in second grade and can't risk the blow to his coolness if he were to talk to them in public, so it was a quiet wait until our other friend Mya came to the bus stop. 

It was a chilly morning. The bus was twenty minutes late. I just love to wait on a corner holding a one year old on a cold morning for twenty minutes. NOT. It was okay though, it seemed good for the kids to all talk and anticipate with each other. Lauren was so excited to see the bus come that before I even knew it she was already to the doors. She didn't even give me a hug. When I noticed that she was close to the bus I said "Lauren, aren't you going to say good-bye?" The response? "Bye Mom." Then as the bus pulled away and I waved, my eyes started to water. I probably would have cried, but I couldn't be the only person crying. I probably would have cried when I got home, but by the time I got there I was over it. 

It did seem weird and quiet. I was worried that Kenna would be so bored not having Lauren to play with, but I forgot how well she played and entertained herself. So what did I do to celebrate Lauren's first day of school?  I did me some sewing. Yahoo. And some closet re-arranging. Not so-yahoo. But I am glad it is done. 

Lauren's packed lunch. Complete with a special note from Mom and Dad. (Which I later realized she wouldn't be able to read. She said someone's teacher in the lunch room read it to her though). 

Getting ready to go.

The outfit she picked out

For some reason, Lauren is not capable of having her eyes open for any of these pictures.

Our very late bus

I can't find my camera, so here are some low quality pictures of our day with the phone. When Callum woke up from his nap we went to the store to get some balloons to welcome Lauren off the bus with. She loved her little surprise and Kenna loved surprising her. Lauren looked exhausted when she got off the bus. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were a little bloodshot. Right now she and Kenna are taking a rest, Callum is napping and I am getting a little quiet time to myself. 

School Begins

Tomorrow is Lauren's first day of kindergarten. I actually can't decide if I should call it that or not. It's orientation, that I go with her, that only lasts an hour and a half. Is she supposed to take her new backpack? Should I take pictures? And then on Tuesday only half the class goes and so she doesn't go again until Thursday. Maybe I'll count it as the first day when she rides the bus for the first time. 

I'm am sad to see her go all day long. She really is a sweet little girl. I think that it is dumb that we spend all those years raising babies and toddlers through all the hard phases, and then just when they get to be good helpers and fun to talk to then, BAM! You have to send them away. I want to switch. I want to send my "trashcan dive-and-eat" baby to school for a few hours a day. Callum is really exhausting these days. He loves to open the DVD player and take out whatever movie the girls are watching. (That is so not the way to make friends with the sisters). On top of that he has started to take his first steps which has been really exciting. It seems like when the girls took their first steps they just kept on going and were from that point on "walkers," but Callum is a little different. He takes a couple of steps every few days or so. 

McKenna will start preschool next week. We are doing a preschool through the high school that is for special needs kids and Kenna will be a peer. There are three special needs kids and three peers. So its a pretty small class and they have four teachers. An occupational therapist, a speech therapist, and physical therapist and a teacher. Some of the people in our ward have done this program and said it was great because if there child struggled in any of those areas the therapists would help the peers too. This preschool is two days and a week and a major bonus is that it is free. I didn't find out if we could do it or not until last week so I had already organized a co-op preschool with some friends that will be once a week. 

What am going to do with all of that time? Three mornings a week with just Callum. I know I won't work-out, or clean. Perhaps watch tons of Netflix? Do lots of shopping? Ideas welcome. 

Jeff is realizing that he doesn't want to be an internal medicine doctor, and doesn't want to do the training necessary to be a cardiologist, so he is seriously thinking about switching his residency to anesthesiology. This pleases me VERY much. He has been really stressed out these last couple of months and the least happy I have ever seen him. But since he started thinking about switching it has eased his mind a little. 

I am having fun getting to know people and getting to experience Wisconsin. We went to the "Taste of Madison" last Saturday with some friends and had a good time tasting food from different restaurants in the area. Little Ceasers had a booth there. Really? And tonight we got together with a few other families for an "end of summer picnic" and it was fun. It started to rain a little but it passed quickly, and then the kids and the guys had a little baseball game. While they were playing Callum decided that playing in puddles was a most fabulous past time. And when he got thirsty? Why, he just drank the puddle water.  

I have been working on some projects. One that involves my new miter saw. I am really excited to be able to cut my own wood instead  of making Jeff do it. Pictures are sure to come when the project is finished. 

I guess that was a pretty good update on everyone. Should hold me over for a few months.