happy new year!

Here are the boys at the end of their first day of school. Oliver is making the face for "come on mom, just let me get in the car" which is better than the face he had on at the beginning of the first day of school. Needless to say he is not great at change and new things, in particular new school years. So there was some resistance and some strong-arming to get him into his classroom, but once there he was just fine. Brenden acted genuinely excited about going back to school, although, poor guy, sometimes it's hard to know how much he's just trying to compensate for Oliver's attitude.

They are sporting their new first-day-of-school shirts, which has become our tradition and answer to back-to-school shopping. My mom never let us do back to school shopping, and I find myself following in her footsteps on this one. The weather is still very summery here, so their existing wardrobes are just fine for the first couple months. But they did each get to pick out a new name-brand tshirt, which they were very excited about.

I might have been the one most excited about the start of the new school year, and as such I was determined to make the most of it. Here are some of our successes of the day:

• In spite of the early protests, Oliver did go to school and had no trouble once he was in his classroom. I only sat outside for a half hour.
• When I got home, Scott was fixing a gourmet breakfast for June. Per her request, he made crepes, and then upon discovering we were out of spray whipped cream, he found some heavy whipping cream and a recipe and whipped some up himself.
• I made all the beds and had the house straightened by 10am.
  
• June and I had a good time going on an airplane to the beach; ordering pizza, cookies & pink lollypops on the phone; and doing singing and dancing shows.
• Put dinner in the crock pot by noon.
  
• Picked up the boys from school on time and was met with relatively happy countenances (see photo above) and reports of a good day.
• June, Huck & I all took a nap on my bed together.
  
• Got homework, reading, and practicing done before dinner.
• Had a pre-planned, non-frozen, homemade dinner with at least some nutritional value at decent hour.
• 3 oldest kids took baths.

There were certainly some things that didn't go so well, but overall I felt quite invigorated and renewed and excited about the new schedule and new opportunities to get our lives re-structured and organized.

With this new school year there are a few new goals I'm setting for our family (well, mostly for myself), all of which have to do with time management.

Time Management Goal #1: Get to school on time (i.e. 10 minutes early)
7:30 parents wake up; make sure boys are awake & getting dressed
7:45 fix breakfast
8:00 eat breakfast
8:10 out the door

Time Management Goal #2: Homework/Reading/Practicing before dinner
We failed miserably at keeping up any reading habits over the summer. Turns out my boys are not huge readers on their own, so need additional encouragement from us. We had gotten in the habit of reading just a bed time, but bedtime is already complicated (and usually late) enough that that just doesn't work anymore. So dedicated reading time in the afternoon will be required, which means more limited TV time. I generally have liked giving the boys 30-60 minutes of after school detox time in front of the TV before making them work on homework, but once the TV is on, it is just so hard to remember to turn it off. So if that keeps being a problem I guess we'll have to go to a no-TV on weekdays rule like I had when I was growing up -- but I'm not quite ready to do that yet. I can be more disciplined about limits.

Along with homework & reading time there is music practicing that needs to happen more regularly. Brenden has opted to put piano on hold and try out the guitar. Ideally I'd like him to do both, but two instruments might just be more than I can handle, so for now it's just guitar. So once reading & homework is done, then he has to practice guitar before he can turn on the TV or play video games again.

Time Management Goal #3: Dinner
Due to recent events named Huck, I've gotten off track of my previous goals of doing better at cooking and we've been back to individually prepared frozen dinners for everyone every night. I hate that and need to do better (Oprah & Dr. Oz told me so).

Before 3pm: have a dinner plan & shopping list
3pm: pick up kids and stop by grocery store if necessary
5pm: prepare dinner
6:30pm: dinner is served

Time Management Goal #4: Bedtime
No more 10pm summer bedtime -- we've got to get back on track with 8pm bedtime. Mom & Dad need more grown-ups-only time.

an update and some introspection

I think I'm discovering that I am a baby person after all. I like them all small and squishy and helpless. They are needy in physically demanding ways, but not nearly as emotionally and mentally demanding as older kids. Or maybe I've just gotten lucky with this one. Huck is so sweet and content. He eats well, doesn't cry much, and sleeps a lot. He is starting to have longer waking periods, but even then is happy to just sit in a comfy seat and observe the world around him for a long time.
I feel guilty admitting I like babies, because it somehow suggests I don't like my older kids. And I feel guilty that I'm really looking forward to school starting next week, because it somehow suggests I don't like having my kids home all day and am not a fun summer-activity-planning mom. But I do better, and therefore the whole family does better, with structure and routine and schedules. Our kids are all very good and nice and I'm so proud of how they are all growing up. But I HATE the question "what can I do now?" and the statement "I'm bored" and I hate TV noise and fighting, all indications that we are ready for summer to come to a close.

Yesterday my sweet friend Jodi came and picked up my 3 older kids to play at her house for the day. She didn't wait for me to ask or call or arrange, she just knew what would be helpful and did it. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that little break. It was quiet and I rested and got caught up on some chores and it was just so great. Turns out I'm not naturally very good at "taking it easy" or asking for help, so need someone willing to force it on me sometimes.


June has really warmed up to her little brother and desperately wanted him to sleep in her crib last night. She went through a couple weeks of really bad sleeping during our transition, but is thankfully back on track now.

On Sunday I got a surprise visit from my oldest friend, Sarah P. (In elementary school she was Sarah P and I was Sarah Z, although now we are both Sarah W). We had a great time catching up and getting to know each other again. She lives in Beijing with her husband and 4 kids - so exotic. She reminded me exactly of an adult version of her as a child. Not sure what that means, but her voice and look and mannerisms were just so familiar.


Yesterday in the mail I got (I mean Huck got) this amazing present from Aunt Annee - two beautiful handmade blankets. I am in awe at the handiwork and aesthetic and generosity of time and talent. Almost makes me wish I had a nursery to set up and decorate where such a beautiful quilt could hang on display on the wall. And the yellow one with Huck spelled out in flames is the perfect way to assuage any lingering angst about his name. Thank you thank you thank you.

we're on our own now

Laurel went home and Scott went back to work so we're on our own now. Gulp! Yesterday the solution was to spend 4 hours at the mall. Wonder what we'll come up with today.

This is from designmom.com and is put out by Hallmark in their new Edge of Motherhood collection. I thought it was pretty funny. Oliver sings that girlfriend song all the time.

annee wants pictures

she says i don't even have to write any words.
just pictures.
here you go.
life is good.